- Parliament forbade the reporting of its debates until 1771, when it yielded to protests by London newspaper publishers. In 1803 William Cobbett began publishing the PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES, until, in 1812, he sold his interest to his printer, T.C. Hansard. Throughout the nineteenth century, HANSARD'S PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES were neither verbatim nor official, but rather a collection of newspaper and other reports, embodying corrections by the speakers. The DEBATES are essential to a complete understanding of nineteenth-century Britain.